How do I improve my golf?

Question

I'm very new to golf and love it, but I come away ticked off with myself each time I go to the range. (Not brave enough for the green stuff yet)
I slice it left, I hit the rug before the ball, my back hurts and my hands ache....
As you can see, LOTS of room for improvement.
Thasks...

Answer 1

when you grip the club look down at your hands if you can see more than two knuckles you will slice it if you can see less than 2 you will probably hook it. the aim is to see 2 to 2 and a half. hope it helps

Answer 2

All the answers were wrong, although the rake one was funny. Anyway, I went from a 100+ player my entire life to a low 80's high 70's player in one year. What I did is what I would recommend: Find the best tour player (or former) in your are and get a set of 25 lessons spread over 6 months. Make sure that he uses video analysis, and after you take a few swings on the range, you go in to review the videotape, and he records your swing on another tape, and he dubs in his comments. The use V1 golf pro edition, and I would recommend that after 10 or so lessons, you buy the V1 software, and go to the driving range with your laptop and camera, and record your own swing too.

Don't practice and waste your time reading books. All that will do is reinforce everything you are doing wrong. Hitting balls at the driving range has got to be the biggest waste of time.

Point: Hire a pro who uses video analysis, and lets you bring the tapes home for review. I would also recommend to bring your own camera to the lesson and record it there too. Finally, start your first five to 10 lessons just on the short game. This will help you develop a swing.

Answer 3

Absolutely get some lessons from a pro - if you don't you will learn bad habits and they will be very difficult to unlearn.

A few tips though, in the meantime:

* If your back is hurting, you may be bending over to swing. Keep your back straight and stick your butt out.
* You may also be trying to swing too hard & fast - work on getting a comfortable and consistent technique first, then you can worry about power. Remember that on the course you'll do better to hit a softer shot down the fairway than blasting it into the trees.
* Also check that you have the right fit of clubs - if they're too short or long you'll get into uncomfortable positions and be trying to swing unnaturally.

Above all, remember these things:
* KEEP YOUR EYE ON THE BALL THROUGHOUT THE WHOLE SWING
* KEEP YOUR HEAD DOWN
* FLEX YOUR WRISTS AND HIT DOWN ON THE BALL (FOR IRON SHOTS)

Even Tiger hits the odd shot into the trees so don't worry if you do.

Cheers

Answer 4

The easiest way to learn golf like a pro is by following "The Simple Golf Swing" program. It's primarily a 31 page eBook that teaches golfers how to make solid contact with the ball, how to avoid hitting fat, how to avoid slicing, how get more power, accuracy, and consistency in your swing. Consistency being the number 1 golf skill.

You not only get the eBook though, you also receive a ton of extra material including video, lessons on putting, driving, chipping, sand play etc. Here is their official site: http://www.golfswingguru.net

Answer 5

The best thing I could suggest is to pick up a copy of this book and give it a read. Ben Hogan's Modern Fundamentals of Golf is one of the best books I've read and contains a lot of great illustrations that accompany the instruction text. The illustrations were done by a doctor and are very close to what Ben Hogan was trying to relate to the reader in his teachings. Start with a great grip and work on your swing plane - the 2 biggest pieces of golf...

Answer 6

if your driving range has a practice range work on your short game first (pitching, chipping, putting) you will save a lot of strokes here if your local course has a practice course play that until you get comfortable with your ability and to send you in the right direction buy Golf For Dummies 3rd Edition its newly revised and up to date and is a great book for beginners

Answer 7

Practice, best way to improve is always through practice.
Some lessons or a guidance dvd/book may help, but if you want to improve practice.
Keep your cool aswell, if u get wound up you'll lose concentration, then your technique goes, and its all downhill from there.
Also visualisation is an underestimated technique.
And finally, enjoy yourself, if practice gets boring, change what your doing or make a game out of it, if you get bored you wont get better, or you may just walk away.

Answer 8

Practice and a couple of lessons. I have a few friends that have played for a few years and then have taken just one or two lessons and found that their game improved significantly. Simple things like help with grip, stance or how you address the ball can help a lot.

Answer 9

if ur back etc hurts stop hitting off mats at driving range cos its really bad for you!!! go to a practice ground with grass. then a couple of lessons would help with a local pga pro just to give you a couple of things to think about then you can work on something.

Answer 10

Take your time, Warm up. Head down, low expectations. Swing through nice and easy, swing slow and as soon as you start hitting the ball a bit better speed up your swing.